Small Lady Bulldog team can’t keep up
ROGERS — The Decatur Lady Bulldogs hit the road the week of Dec. 5 for two contests, one against the Ozark Catholic Academy Lady Griffins in Rogers, the other in Mountainburg against the Lady Dragons. Both games ended with losses for the Lady Bulldogs.
One of the biggest problems facing head girls basketball coach Fess Thompson is numbers. For the Ozark Catholic contest, Thompson only managed to have five of his seven-member team dress out for the night. This translated into all five players — Heaven McGarrah, Jazmine Herrera, Lorelai Tuinstra, Shaylee Morales and Anette Hernandez — playing the entire 32-minute contest without a break.
While the Lady Bulldogs played hard, they were not able to land enough shots to keep up with the stronger Lady Griffins. In the end, the Tontitown-based Ozark Catholic Lady Griffins took the nonconference win, 44-17, over the Decatur Lady Bulldogs.
McGarrah led the way in the scoring department with six points, followed by Herrera with five, and Tuinstra, Morales and Hernandez each with two.
The Lady Bulldogs traveled south Thursday night to take on a team they have not faced in four years, the Mountainburg Lady Dragons. Thompson’s Lady Bulldogs were back to full strength for the Mountainburg contest, with the addition of his leading scorer, Annabelle Bell, and defensive player, Jackie Mendoza.
The Lady Bulldogs managed to hold a slim lead in the first quarter, but the Lady Dragons pulled together and soon started surging ahead. By the end of the first half, Mountainburg held a 30-point lead over Decatur.
After a quick change to the Lady Bulldog gameplay by Thompson, Decatur began to slowly cut the lead back to 15 points before the team ran out of steam, allowing the Mountainburg Lady Dragons to take a 53-25 win over the Decatur Lady Bulldogs.
McGarrah once again led the Lady Bulldogs in scoring with nine points, followed by Bell with seven, Morales with five, Mendoza with two, Herrera and Hernandez each with one point. On the defensive side, Tuinstra had one of the best defensive nights of her career, forcing several turnovers and steals.
The Decatur Lady Bulldogs continue the 2022 road trip when the team travels to Saint Paul on Dec. 14 to take on the Lady Saints and to Fayetteville on Dec. 16 for a contest against the New School Lady Cougars. Start time for the St. Paul contest is set for 4 p.m., with the New School start at 4:30 p.m.